I. Field of the Invention
This invention related to a frame for holding one or more commendation bars and for mounting the commendation bars to a uniform. More specifically, this invention provides frames to which metal bar type awards can be secured so that each of the awards need not be separately secured to the uniform.
Police officers, firefighters and military personnel receive badges and awards for service above and beyond the call of duty. These badges are to be worn on the uniform in a systematic, neat, and orderly manner. These badges and awards can be made of metal. Metal pins and badges typically have one or more pins projecting from the back which pierce the uniform and are used along with a releasable clasp to secure the badge to the uniform. The badges must be removed from the uniform when the uniform needs to be cleaned and pressed. Once the uniform is cleaned and pressed, the badges must be neatly reattached to the uniform.
When the officer receives several such badges, removal and replacement of the badges can be a time-consuming or cumbersome task. Because the awards need to be neatly placed to meet codes and guidelines related to proper uniform attire, placement of the badges in compliance with such guidelines is difficult to accomplish by eyesight alone.
II. Related Art
Others have tried to make the placement of badges on a uniform an easier and less time consuming task. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,495,577 granted on Jul. 3, 1946 to H. Elkies discloses an apparatus to which a plurality of commendation bars can be attached. The apparatus is then attached to the uniform to hold the commendation bars in place. The apparatus has a bar to which the commendation bars are attached. Each bar has a pair of forwardly diverging flanges. The commendation bars have rearwardly converging flanges which embrace the forwardly diverging flanges on the bar to secure the commendation bar to the bar. This approach has two problems. First, the commendation bars are free to slide from their left to their right, and are only held by small tongues on the left and right sides of the bar. The ""577 patent does not provide a frame surrounding the commendation bars to prevent the commendation bars from sliding off the bars. Second, the bar only accommodates one horizontal row or commendation bars. As the officer earns additional commendation bars, it may be necessary to provide a second row, and the Elkies design does not provide for expansion to a second row of commendation bars. This may result in unsightly gaps between the rows of commendation bars, as each commendation bar is applied separately. Further, the commendation bars must be provided with flanges that mesh with the flanges of the bar. The Elkies apparatus will not work with commendation bars or badges having pins for securing commendation bars to the uniform.
To resolve the need for multiple rows of bars, U.S. Pat. No. 2,832,161 granted on Apr. 29, 1958 to J. A. Murphy, discloses a plurality of uniformly spaced parallel bars for receiving commendation bars. Each bar has flanges which cooperate with flanges on the commendation bar. The Murphy apparatus is mounted to the uniform using screws that penetrate the uniform, and nuts secure the commendation bar holder to the uniform. It is time consuming for officers to line up the screws on the uniform and then attach them to the commendation bar holder. The ""161 patent does not provide a frame surrounding the commendation bars so, as in Elkies, the commendation bars sometimes slip laterally. Also, like Elkies, the Murphy patent does not teach a device for holding commendation bars or badges that use pins rather then flanges for securing the commendation bar to the uniform.
Some prior art devices do not use mating inwardly and outwardly extending flanges to hold the commendation bars. An example of such a device is U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,657 granted on Feb. 6, 1979 to P. Wardle entitled xe2x80x9cShield and Award Designation Mounting Device.xe2x80x9d In the ""657 patent, award bars are attached to individual mounting devices for each award. The device, however, only accommodates award bars that have lugs on the backside. It is not designed to accommodate pins. Further, it does not provide a framing system to prevent the award bars from sliding on the officer""s uniform.
Some recent inventions represent attempts to accommodate commendation bars that are secured using rearwardly protruding pins. U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,805 granted on Sep. 26, 2000 to D. Haegley entitled xe2x80x9cDevice For Securing Ribbons to Military Uniformxe2x80x9d merely calls out a plastic backing which receives the pins on the inside of the uniform to prevent scratching. This method creates alignment problems because the user must align the commendation bars by eyesight alone. It does not provide a plate with openings to assist in the orderly alignment of the commendation bars. Further, it does not provide a frame to prevent the slipping of the commendation bars on the uniform. The Haegley device solves the problem of pin exposure, but does not assist in the orderly alignment of the commendation bars.
Presently, existing holders and clasps designed to fix such awards to the officer""s uniform do not provide a complete frame for the awards. Without edging on the frame to assist in the alignment of the awards, the awards may tip or slide off of the holder or clasp. This makes the uniform appear sloppy.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a frame for holding a plurality of commendation bars and for securing the frame to a uniform.
Another object of the invention is provide such a frame which holds the commendation bars in a secure fashion so they will not fall off of shift either up or down or side to side.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a frame which is capable of holding in a secure fashion commendation bars that have one or more pins affixed to and projecting from the backside of the commendation bar.
A further object of the invention is to provide a frame that can hold commendation bars that do not have flanges.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a frame having a back, a peripheral wall projecting forwardly from the back, and a series of pin securing openings in the back. When the frame is used, the commendation bars are secured to the frame by gluing the commendation bars to the frame and inserting the pins of the commendation bars through the openings in the frame and then bending the pins on the commendation barsxe2x80x94with the exception of the one or two of the pins. The commendation bars are thus held to the frame. The peripheral wall prevents the badges from moving up or down or side to side in the frames. The frame is then preferably attached to the uniform by causing the two pins that have not been bent over to penetrate the uniform. These pins are then mated with a releasable clasp to secure the frame and the commendation bars in place on the uniform.
The present invention overcomes all of the disadvantages discussed above by providing a set of frames that can be used for easily securing, aligning, and removing commendation bars on a uniform. The frames of the present invention are particularly useful for performing these tasks for commendation bars having a pin or pair of pins projecting rearwardly from the back.